1. Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to an apparatus for performing imaging operations such as printing and image reading with respect to a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to an apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-256232, a discharge tray on which sheets are discharged is configured to open and close with respect to the apparatus and save a space of the apparatus since the discharge tray is closed when it is not used. The discharge tray includes a built-in auxiliary stacker and a biasing mechanism which causes the auxiliary stacker to protrude by sliding and moving to a front side when the discharge tray is opened. When the auxiliary stacker protrudes, a front side of the discharge tray is extended and a sheet supporting area is enlarged so that a large size sheet can be supported.
However, the auxiliary stacker once protruded does not automatically return to an original position in the apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-256232. When the discharge tray is closed after printing, a user needs to close the discharge tray by one hand while holding the auxiliary stacker in a retracted state against a biasing force of the biasing mechanism by the other one hand. The user needs to handle complicated operations with both hands, and it is far from user friendly.
In addition, in a case of the sliding type auxiliary stacker for protruding to the front side as in the apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-256232, an extendable length is limited by a size in a height direction of the opening/closing discharge tray. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-256232, the automatically protruding auxiliary stacker further includes a second built-in auxiliary stacker, however, an extendable length is limited and it is difficult to obtain a rigidity to stack a lot of sheets thereon. Looked at from another perspective, in order to increase the size of the auxiliary stacker, the size of the discharge tray including the auxiliary stacker in the height direction needs to be increased, which means an increase in the size of the entire apparatus.